Photo by Scott Rowan
Steve and Morreen Bayles stand in front of their Alex’s Lemonade Stand which they and their daughter, Sydnie, run during concerts on Tuesday events at Eagleview. Behind them are volunteers from Moreen’s company, Creative Restaurant Solutions.

At the age of 4, Sydnie Bayles approached a man at a benefit concert for kids with cancer. The man happened to be the late Billy Mays, known to many as the OxiClean Man. Not willing to let the considerable difference in their size deter her from her goal, she walked up to him and said, “’Excuse me! I’m trying to make sick kids better. Have you given me a donation?’” Her mother, Morreen Bayles, who was standing behind her, remembers being mortified at first by Sydnie’s directness. Mays knelt down and gave Sydnie a pep talk, telling her that what she was doing was “’tremendous’” and that she should keep doing it. He also gave her a $100 donation.

Along with her parents Steve and Morreen Bayles of Uwchlan, Sydnie, now 9, has continued to raise money for Alex’s Lemonade Stand, a foundation that raises money for children’s cancer research and helps fund the needs of families with children who have been diagnosed with cancer.

This past year, led by Sydnie’s tenacity and unwillingness to back down, the Bayles family surpassed their goal of raising $100,000 — they ended up raising more than $106,000. This is the Bayles’ eighth year fundraising for Alex’s Lemonade Stand. The family sells lemonade, cookies and raffle tickets every Tuesday in the summer during concerts their housing development -- Eagleview Town Center -- puts together. This summer they hope to raise $50,000, something Steve says is “an extremely lofty goal (for one summer) but we’re obviously trying to leverage relationships with corporations and with people we haven’t reached out to before. We are hopeful we’ll get there this summer.”

This summer, Sydnie is going to give a presentation in Chicago at frozen yogurt shop Suzy’s Swirl. The company is donating some of the proceeds to Alex’s Lemonade Stand to help Sydnie reach her goal. This isn’t the first time Sydnie has spoken to a large crowd about Alex’s Lemonade Stand. Previously, she has given a speech at her elementary school’s assembly in front of about 300 kids and last year stood up in front of her housing development before the concert to thank the crowd for helping her family surpass their $100,000 goal. Chicago, however, is new territory for the Bayles family, as they have yet to raise funds out of state.

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Sydnie’s effect on people is not lost on those around her. “(Sydnie) has a lot of people that rally around her. I don’t think she understands the magnitude of that or what she’s been doing. She’s a little humble I think,” Morreen said.

“I’m hoping by the time I’m 14 I can raise $200,000,” Sydnie said. Morreen looks at her daughter with a proud smile. She’s used to hearing about Sydnie’s lofty goals. Morreen believes Sydnie gets her personality from Morreen’s late mother, who died of cancer. It was after her mother’s death that Morreen went to speak at a Philadelphia Hotel Association dinner. The person who spoke before her was Alex Scott’s dad, Jay Scott. The Scotts continued their daughter Alex’s dream of finding a cure for childhood cancer by creating the foundation started by their daughter. A humble little lemonade stand started by 4-year-old Alex Scott is now one of the most well known foundations for helping children with cancer. After Jay Scott’s speech, “there wasn’t a dry eye in the room,” Morreen said. She went home that night and told Steve that she felt she needed to do something to help her work through the grief she felt over losing her mother. Sydnie, then only 2 years old, overheard the conversation and tottled in, saying, “I sell lemonade!” That was the beginning of the family’s work with the foundation.

The movement Alex Scott started, who died in 2004 at the age of 8, continues on because of the dedication of the Scott family and volunteers like the Bayles family. When asked why they raise funds for Alex’s Lemonade Stand, Steve said simply, “Because we can.” It was important for them to choose a foundation that Sydnie could get involved with and one that makes a real difference by donating the majority of its proceeds to the cause.

“Alex’s Lemonade Stand resonated (with our family),” Steve said. “Who doesn’t know someone with cancer? And how horrible is it to think of the children who have to suffer (with the disease)?”

“You can feel good about the money that you’re giving — that it’s going to (where it’s needed) and not to general and administrative expenses,” Morreen explained.

Through the years the family has been fundraising for Alex’s Lemonade Stand, they have watched Sydnie grow and take on more of a leadership role. “She’s just grown up so much and has such a different perspective of what’s important in this world. I think it makes a difference in who she is as a kid,” Morreen said. Not surprisingly, Sydnie’s favorite quote is, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”

The young woman Sydnie is becoming through her work with the foundation is a testament not only to her own personal strength and the dedication of her family but also to the little girl who started it all — Alex Scott.

Concerts on the Square are held Tuesdays, 7-9 p.m., in front of Brickside Grill on Wellington Square in Eagleview Corporate Center in Uwchlan.